Safety mechanism for mangles.



W. BARTHOLOMEW.

SAFETY MECHANISM FOR MANGLES.

APPLmATloN FILED JUNE 11. 1912.

L148739 Patented Aug. 3, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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M @W E idg/a W. BARTHOLOMEW.

SAFETY MECHANISM FOR MANGLES.

APPucATxoN r|LED1uNE17.|9|2.

1,148,739. Patented Aug. 3, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Wl BARTHOLOMEW.

SAFETY MECHANISM FIOR MANGLES.

APPLICATION F|LED1uNE17.1912.

1,148,739. Patented Aug. 3, 1915.

W. BARTHOLOMEW.

SAFETY MECHANISM FOR MANGLES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17, 1912.

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WILLIAM BARTHOLOMEW, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO TROY LAUNDRY MACHINERY COMPANY, LIMITED, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SAFETY MECHANISM FOR MANGLES.

Patented Aug. 3, 1915.

Application filed June 17, 1912. Serial No. 704,075.

To' all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WiLLrAM BARTHoLo- MEW, a-citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Mechanism for Mangles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates in general to ironing machines, and more particularly to safety devices for mangles.

' In the use of mangles, the operators .are some times injured through carelessness in feeding the articles to the rolls and occasionally in attempting, while the machine is in operation, to disengage articles which have become caught in passing through the the rolls will instantly automatically stop the operation of the machine.

A still further object of' my invention is .to provide a mangle, or similar machine,

with convenient and efficient means for safeguarding the operators, which will not interfere with the normal operation of the machine, but will instantly lstop the operation when the moving parts are exposed and dan- -ger of injury to the operators consequently exist.

My invention will be more fully disclosed hereinafter with reference to4 the accompanying drawings, in which the same is illustrated as embodied in a convenient and practical form, and in which- Figure 1 is a lfront elevational view of a mangle equipped with my present invention;

Fig. 2 a detail perspective view of a portionv of the rock shaft which actuates the cutout clutch; Fig. 3, a plan view of the top of the mangle, showing the relation of the guard to the underlying rolls; Fig. 4, a sectional view on line4 4, Fig. 1, parts being omitted to better show the mechanism controlled by the guard for automatically stopping the machlne; Fig. 5,'an enlarged detail section 0n line '5 5, Fig. 7;Fig.i6, an elevational view of thel detail shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 7 a side elevational view, looking from the right in Fig. 1; Fig. 8, an enlarged elevational view of the clutch mechanism, parts being shown 1n section; Fig. 9, an elevational View of the clutch viewed from the opposite .side to that shown in Fig. 8; Fig. 10, a plan view of the clutch controllin mechanism taken on line 10 10, Fig. 8; Fig. 1l, an enlarged vertical section of thecentral portion of one of the guard supporting posts, the parts being shown in the positions they assume when the post is relieved of the weight of the guard; and Fig. 12, a view similar to Fig. 11, showing the vposition of the parts when the post supports the guard.

The same reference characters are used to 4designate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Reference characters A and A2 designate the side supporting frames of the mangle between Which are supported the rolls, aprons, steam chests, and coperating parts. The

.sidey frames are provided with feet secured to a floor, and are rigidly secured together by transverse connecting means, such, for instance, as the rod. a shown in Fig. 1.

B and B? designate housings supported upon the side frames A and A2 within which the trains of gears for driving the rolls are inclosed.

C designates one of the aprons, while C, C2, etc., designate the series'of rolls.

D designates thev mechanism for adjusting the positions of the rolls and aprons; relatively to the steam chests. 4-

E indicates a power shaft extending trans-7 versely -through the machine and provided with a suitable power transmitting device, such as a pulley F, by which it is driven. The portion of the shaft which projects to the opposite side of the mangle from the pulley F is-supported bya bracket G projecting .outwardly and upwardly from the 100 side supportingframe A.

H ldesignates one` member of a driving clutch having rigidly secured thereto a gear IL loosely mounted upon the power shaft E. The gear a, is intermediate of and meshes with the adjacent larger geaIWheelS and normally forced into engagement withl the coperating clutch member H by the springv K, thereby non-rotatively locking the gear z. to the power shaft.

`The mangle above generallyl described does not in itself .constitute my present invention, but is merely illustrated and described in order that the construction and operation of myvimproved safety mechanism kmay be fully disclosed. yIt will, however, be

obvious from the subsequent descriptionthat my present-invention is not limited in its ap-y plication to a mangle of the i construction above described, but is ,also applicable to other forms of'lmangles andto analogous machines. Y n c c y L designates a lever pivotally mounted at its lower end upon the bracketG, as indicated at Z. The-upper end of they lever L is bifurcated-'and engages Within a groove jl formed in-the Ahub of the clutch member J. Extending longitudinally at one side of the rmachine isa shaft M journaled upon the side frame A2 intermediate of its ends in a suitable bracket m. Theforward end of the vshaft M is providedv with a hand wheel m, while the rearend of the said shaftextends through a pair of spaced brackets G projecting inwardly from the' main bracket Gr.

Fixed upon the portion of the shaft Mintermediate of the brackets G is a bevel gear wheel M which meshes with asmaller bevel gear m2 fixed upon a countershaft N, the latter bein-g supported at its ends in brackets G2 supported by the main bracket G.

Fixedv upon the portion of the shaft M between the brackets Gr is a cam L adapted to engage'the adjacent portion of the lever L and to thereby oscillate vsuch lever and move the clutch member J out of engagementV with the clutch member H; l

N designates a gear wheel loosely mount ed upon the countershaft N and meshing with a-largergear -H2,v as shown in Fig. 7. N2 designates a clutch member non-rotatively, but axially, movable on thecounter.- shaft N adapted to engagea coperating clutch member n2 vfixed-to the gear wheel'N.

N3 designates a crank lever,v the upper end of which is bifurcated and engages Within an annular groove n3 in theclutch member N2. The lower end of the cranklever N2 is pending from the rock shaft Q and vrigidly secured thereto by suitable brackets g is a safety-board@ located in position to be engaged by the hands of lthe operator who feeds the articles to the machine should his hands approach dangerously near to the adjacentvroll. y 1 f f The rear `end of the rock shaft. Ois supported by a standard O and adjacent such standard is provided with an upwardly prof jecting crank arm 02 to which is pivotally connected a rod O2 extending transversely .across the machine and pivotally connectedy at the opposite side of the machine to a crank arm 03 depending from a rock shaft O3., the latter-being 4journaled in suitable brackets upon the side supporting frame A 1 and projecting to the front, or feeding end of the machine. The rear end of the rock shaft O3 is supported in the upper end of a standard OLl similar to the standard O. A crank .arm o4 yprojects downwardly from` the yforward end of the rock shaft vO3 and is pivotally connected by a rock shaft O5V with a crank arm o5 projecting from the forward end ofthe rock shaft O.

At'each side of the machine adjacent the front and rear ends` of the respective side supporting framesiA and A2 are standards or posts R and R2.

- Telescopically supported upon the upper ends of the standards R and R2 are heads S and S2, each of such heads being provided with a depending sleeve s whichV loosely surrounds the upper 'end of the adjacent corresponding standard.

A spring S is located within the sleeve s and is'interposed between ythe head S and the capl secured to the upper end of the corresponding standard. .11;

A rod T is secured at its upperY end tothe head S and depends through the spring S and 'thence through the cap'z to the interior of the standard. The-lower end of the rod T is secured to a wire,lchain, or other flexible connection T which extends centrally Withshaft 'O where-it isconnected to the upper end of a crank'arm u mounted upon the rock shaft O. The flexibleconnector T is guided within a tube t secured Within the standard in any suitable manner, as by means ofa surrounding co1lar-T2 whichA is secured Ywithin '120 in the standard and out through an opening in the same` at a point slightlyabovethe rock Athe standard by the clamp screw t2.

The guide tube t' extends through the wall of the standard around the fiexible connector and is secured in such position bya collar t2.

The hub U of the crank arm u is provided with a. notch through which extends a radial pin o fixed to the rock shaft O. The cutaway portion of the hub U forms shoulders u and u2, the former of which is adapted t0 engage the pin u and thereby rock-the shaft O when the crank arm u is oscillated t0- ward the-adjacent standard R'.

As shown in Fig. al, yeach of the four standards arranged in pairs R', R2 on opposite sides of the machine, is constructed as above described, as shown inl Figs. 10 and 11, and is connected to a crank varm u, as above described. Thecrank armsu adjacent the-pair of standards on the right of the machine, as viewed in Fig. 1, are adapted to directly oscillate the rock shaft O, while the crank arms u adjacent the standards on the left side of the machine-are adapted to directly oscillate. the rock shaft O3 and, through the crank arms 03 and 04 thereon, and the connecting rods O2 and 0"', and crank arms 02 and 0'", to oscillate the rock shaft O. l

Resting upon the heads on the four standards is a guard of suitable construction which overlies the machine and prevents access to the revolving rolls. The guard may be convenientlv formed in four sections, two of which W" and VV2 extend transversely across the'front and rear of the machine, the former being supported at its ends upon the heads S', S' of the front standards R', R', and the'latter section 72 being directly supported upon the heads S2,

,S2 of the rear standards.

'ardsl as shown in Fig. 7. rl"he longitudinal sections 72 and 1V* of the guard are secured'to the transverse sections in any suitable manner. The sections of the guard extend inwardly a sufficient distance to prevent the operator of the machine from reaching the rolls underlying the guard, thereby rendering'it necessary to remove the guard before the operator'can have access to the rolls. Hence when any articles are caught in passing through the mangle, the operators must first lift the guard before they can reach into the rolls to disengage the caught articles.

The operation of my improvedl safety mechanism is as follows'. When the guard is in position upon the heads of the four supporting standards, its weight is sufficient to compress the several springs S, as shown in Fig. 12. The several crank arms u consequently occupy" vertical positions with their shoulders kvu' engaging with the corresponding pins von the rock-shafts O and ()2. At this time the position of the rock shaft is such that the clutch member' N2is in the position shown in Fig. 8, in which it is disengaged from'` the clutch member n2 on the gear wheel N'. The rock shaft O'is normally retained in such position by a counterbalance o". Power is applied to the shaft. E and is communicated through the engaged conicalv clutch members H and J to the gear z, and thence to the adjacent larger gears H', H2 with which it meshes. The larger gears H', H2 are in mesh with other gears of the train for communicating rotary motion `fromfthe shaft Eto the several rolls. The cam L' is in position for its flat face to lie opposite the flatsurface of the lever L. Consequently the said lever is in a position to permit the spring K to retain the conical clutch member J in frictional engagement with the cooperating clutch member H. The gear wheel N' on the countershaft N rotates idly through engagement with the larger. gears H2, but docs not rotate the countershaft N upon which it is normally loosely mounted. Should an article become caught during its passage through the rolls, or should it become desirable for any other reason for the operator to have access to the rolls, and it consequently become necessary to remove the guard, any lifting of the guard will relieve the weight of the nearest standard head to the point where the'lifting pressure is applied, thereby permitting the spring S to expand and lift the corresponding head so as to exert an upward pull on the flexiblev connector T', which in turn oscillates-the crank arm u to which it is connected, and the latter, through the engagement of the shoulder u' thereon with the pin- 'v on the rock shaft O vor O2, causes the rock shaft to be rocked a suflicient distance for the crank lever N3 to move the clutch memberN2 into engagement with the cooperating clutch member 11,2 fixed to the gear wheel N. As the gear wheel N' constantly rotates during the operation of the machine, it will impart rotary motion to the clutch member N2, and thence to the. countershaft N upon which the clutch member is splined. The rotation of the vcountershaft N rotates the bevel gear m2 fixed thereon, which in turn vrotates the ing the clutch member J out of engagement 1 with the coperating clutch member H. The

power shaftE `is thereby disconnected from the gear h so that the transmission of driving power to the machine is interrupted. As the gearwheel N; rotates quite rapidly, and as a very `slight movement of the cam LL is sufficient to oscillate the leverL and disengage the driving clutch members, it is obvious that instantly upon ,the shaft O being rocked so as to engage the clutch members on the countershaft N, the power will be disktion will cease.

guard, asy viewed from the front or feeding connected from the machine and its opera- VVhen the left side of the end ofthe machine, is liftedthe rock shaft O3 is oscillated, which, through the crank arms o3 and o45 and connecting rods O2 and O5, and crank arms 02 and 05, oscillates the rock shaft O and operates the'clutch on the countershaft so as to; produce an instant cessation of the operation of themachine in the same manner as if the guard at the rightof the machine were lifted. `If the front or rear of theiguard were lifted the same action would take place, as immediately upon the relieving .of any of the springs yS of the latter so as to effect the engagement of the weight of the overlying portion of the guard it will expand and effect the operation `of the stopping mechanism. 'After the machine vhas been automatically stopped in the manner described, it will remain ino erative un- .til the shaft is rotated manually by applying a su cient distance to rotate the cam L relatively to the lever L tothe position shown in Fig. 9, in which the at surface of the cam lengagesthe adjacent portion of the lever L, thereby permitting the spring K to force the clutch member Jv into operative engagement with the clutch member H. Byl means of the safety-boardy Q the machine is instantly stopped should the hand of the operator who is feeding the articles tothe machine apl proach dangerously near theyadjacentvfeed roll. The hand of the operator in such instance-'oscillates inwardly the safety-board,

thereby rocking the shaft Q and swinging downwardly .the crank arm g thereon,

which, through the connecting rod P and crank arm p on theshaft O,loscillates the clutch on the countershaft and the conselquent stopping of the machine. This safety feature, however, does` not in itself consti- 'tute my presentinvention, as it forms the subject-,matter of a copending application. It will be observed by reference to Fig. .2 in particular, that the rock shaft O may be oscillatedby the safety-board without any interference from the several crank arms u, inasmuch as the oscillation of the rock shaft yO by the safety-board merely moves the sev- .l leral pins a away from the shoulders u on the several crank arms u.

ressure to the hand :wheel mi thereon,

From theforegoing description, it will be observed that I-havc invented an improved safety mechanismfor m'angles, and similar machines, which will effect the instant stopping of themachinev when its further operation wouldexpose the operators to possible injury. It Will be further Vobserved that my invention prevents access being had to the moving parts while they are in mo-v tion, by reason of the automatic stopping of the machine when the guard is lifted by the operators in lan endeavor to obtain access tothe moving parts of themachine.

lIVhile I have described more or' less. A infV detail the. speciiic form in which I have illustrated my invention as. embodied, yet I do not wish to be understood as limiting vmyself thereto, as ,I contemplate changesin form,` proportion of parts, vand substitution of equivalents, as circumstances-,may require,

vor as may bedeemed expedient.

1. The combination witha machine of the character described comprising revolving rolls, of a movable guard normally preventing access to the rolls, and means controlled by the weight of said guard for automatically discontinuing the rotation of said rolls when said guard is displaced.

2. The combination with a machine of the I i character described comprising revolving rolls, of means fordriving said rolls, a removable'guard normally preventingaccess said rolls when said guard is displaced from its normal position.

3. The combination withffa machineof the character described comprising revolving rolls, of a guard normallyoverlyingV said rolls andbodily removable to permit vaccess vto the rolls, and means controlled by the Y 5. The combination with a machine ofthe character described, comprising revolving rolls, yof a removable. guard comprising side andend portions overlying the rolls, and a plurality.r of devices Vcontrolled by different portions of said guard fordiscontinuing the rotation of said rolls when the 'corresponding portions of the guard vare displaced.r

v6. The combination with a machine of the character described 'comprising lrevo'laing rolls, of a guard normally preventing access Ato the rolls, and means actuated bythe drivf -ing means for discontinuing the rotation'of weight of said guard for preventing the ro- 7 of the moving parts of the machine when the corresponding portions of the guard are displaced.

8. The combination with a machine of the character described comprising moving parts, of a guard comprising separately removable sections normally preventing access to the moving parts, a 'driving element, a clutch controlling the connection of the driving element With the moving parts, and a plurality of devices controlled by different portions of said guard for actuating said clutch to disconnect the driving element from said moving parts of the machine When any portion of said guard is displaced.

9. The combination With a machine of the character described comprising moving parts, of a guard normally preventing access to the moving parts, a driving element, a clutch controlling the connection of the driving elem-ent with the moving parts, a plurality of devices controlled by different por tions of said guard for actuating said clutch to disconnect the driving element from said moving parts of the machine when any portion of said guard is displaced, and means controlled by the weight of saidguard when in normal position for retaining said clutch actuating devices inactive. r.

10. The combination with a machine of the character described comprising revolving rolls, of a removable guard comprising side and end portions overlying the rolls.I and a plurality of devices upon Which said guard is supported for discontinuing the rotation of said rolls when any portion of said guard is displaced.

11. The combination with a machine of the character described comprising moving parts, of a guard for preventing access to said moving parts, a plurality of standards upon which said guard is removably supported, driving means for operating the moving parts of the machine, and mechanism for disconnecting the driving means from the moving parts of the machine, said mechanism being rendered inactive by said guard When supported upon said standards.

12. The combination With a machine of the character described comprising moving parts, of a guard for preventing access to said moving parts, a plurality of standards upony Which said guard is removably supported, driving means,for operating the moving parts of the machine, mechanism for disconnecting the driving means from the moving parts of the machine', a rock shaft controlling the operation of said mechanism, and a spring operatively connected to said shaft to oscillate the same to effect the disconnection of the driving means from the moving parts of the machine, said spring being rendered inactive by said guard When supported upjon. said standards.

13. The combination With a machine of the class described, comprising moving parts, of a guard for preventing access to the moving parts, a plurality of telescopic movably supported, the Weight of said guard retaining the parts of said standards l in 'telescoped relation, driving means for operating the moving parts of the machine, and mechanism controlled by the relative movement of the parts of said standards when said guard is lifted therefrom for disconnecting the driving means from the moving parts of the machine.

14. The combination With a machine of the class described comprising moving parts, of a guard for preventing access to the moving parts, a plurality of telescopic standards upon Which. said guard is removably supported, driving means for operating the moving parts of the machine, mechanism for disconnecting the driving means from the moving parts, a rock shaft controlling the operation of said mechanism, and means for operating said rock shaft controlled by the relative movements of the telescopic portions of said standards.

15. The combination With a machine of -ing parts, a safety-board protecting the feed end of the machine, driving means for operating'l the moving parts of the machine, mechanism operated by the driving means for disconnecting the driving means from the moving parts,l and means independently controlled by the displacement of said guard and by said safety-board for effecting the actuation of said'mechanism to disconnect the driving means from the moving parts of the machine.

16. The combination With a machine of the class described comprising moving parts, of a guard for preventing access to the moving parts, a safety-board protecting the feed end of the machine, driving means for operating the moving parts of the machine, mechanism operated by the driving means for disconnecting the driving means from the moving parts, a rock shaft controlling In testimony whereof, I have subscribed the operation of stid mechaniism by the my name. j driving means, an means in ependently i controlled by the displacement of said guard Y WILLIAM BARTHOLOMEW 5 and by said Safety-board for actuating said lVitnesses:

rock shaft to e'ect the disconnection of the GEO. L. W1LKINsoN,' y n driving means from the moving parts. A. 14. Wai/FON.y 

